The following papers were reviewed by the Court on this motion: Claimant's
Notice of Motion, Claimant's Affidavit in Support, Claimant's Response and
Defendant's Affirmation in Opposition and annexed Exhibits 1-5. Claimant,
Feliberto Rivera, Jr., a pro se inmate, is seeking an order pursuant to
Civil Practice Law and Rules(CPLR) § 3215 granting default judgment in his
favor due to the failure of defendant, the State of New York, to respond to his
Claim within 20 days as required by CPLR § 320(a).

Claimant filed his Claim on December 13, 2000 in accordance with the
provisions set forth in this Court's order allowing the filing of a late Claim.
Claimant attached a notarized Affidavit of Service to his filed Claim which is
dated December 6, 2000 and states that his Claim was served upon the Attorney
General's Office at 235 Main Street, 3rd Floor, Poughkeepsie, New York, 12601.
However, claimant fails to indicate the method of service and has not submitted
a copy of the return receipt, "green card," evidencing that his Claim was served
upon the Attorney General by certified mail. Defendant did not file nor serve
an Answer in response to the Claim and on February 22, 2001 the present motion
was filed. Defendant has stated that it was never served with a Claim in this
matter and has provided an Affidavit in Support of this position from Catherine
Naveed, a clerk in the New York City Office of the Attorney General. In it she
states that she conducted a search of the computer filing system of the Office
of the Attorney General, Claims Bureau and that there is no record of a Claim
being served on the Attorney General in this matter. Additionally, she
contacted all the Assistant Attorneys General in the New York City, Suffolk
County, Westchester County and Dutchess County offices and they had not received
any documents relating to this case. Consequently, the Court finds that
claimant is not entitled to a default judgment in this matter.

Therefore, for the foregoing reasons, claimant's motion is denied.

Additionally, it appears from the submitted proof herein that claimant has not
properly served his Claim upon defendant. It is also hereby ordered that
unless claimant submits to the Court competent proof of service of his Claim
upon defendant in the form of the certified mail receipt within 30 days of the
filing date of this order the Claim will be dismissed without further order of
the Court.